Open Source Pioneer Munich Debates Report That Suggests Abandoning Linux for Windows 10
'As an open-source software pioneer, Munich spent years moving away from Windows, but now politicians are debating a report that suggests the city could eventually abandon Linux. A report on TechRepublic adds:
If the authority ruling Germany's third largest city backs proposals to make Windows 10 and Microsoft Office available across the council, it would be a significant step away from open-source software for an organization once seen as its champion. Over a nine-year period starting in 2004, the council moved about 15,000 staff from using Windows and Office to LiMux -- a custom version of the Ubuntu desktop OS -- and other open source software. At the time, Munich was one of the largest organizations to reject Windows, and Microsoft took the city's leaving so seriously that then CEO Steve Ballmer flew to Munich to meet the mayor. Now a report commissioned by current mayor Dieter Reiter to help determine the future of IT at the council has outlined a project to make Windows 10 and Microsoft Office available to all departments, and give staff the choice about whether to use Windows or LiMux.'
-- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/11/09/212246
Cheers, Peter
On Thu, 10 Nov 2016 12:47:34 +1300, Peter Reutemann wrote:
The referenced article http://www.techrepublic.com/article/open-source-pioneer-munich-debates-report-that-suggests-abandoning-linux-for-windows-10/ is well worth a read. E.g.
The staggered nature of updates to client PCs is reflected in the spread of operating system versions used by the council. At the time the report gathered its information, the most up to date clients ran LiMux 5.x, based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, which was run on about 45 percent of machines, 32 percent were running version 4.1 and 23 percent were running version 4.0.
Of the Windows machines, about 77 percent ran Windows 7, nine percent ran Windows XP / Vista and 14 percent ran Windows 2000. The report gives the impression that managing Windows clients is more difficult because of the extent to which the configuration of each machine and installed software varies between departments, as well as processes for managing Windows machines being less well-established.
I wrote:
The referenced article http://www.techrepublic.com/article/open-source-pioneer-munich-debates-report-that-suggests-abandoning-linux-for-windows-10/ is well worth a read.
As are some other related articles on TechRepublic.
Here’s one from just over a year ago http://www.techrepublic.com/article/heres-the-one-major-problem-facing-munich-after-switching-from-windows-to-linux/:
"Most people don't really realize that they have Linux and they do not really care," said Jan-Marek Glogowski, a developer in the IT team at the City of Munich told the DebConf Debian developers meeting earlier this month.
"Even when some people were complaining about Linux we were looking at their PCs and there was actually Windows XP running on it," he said of the early days after the move.
And another from I think 2013, when the LiMux migration was finally deemed complete http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-munich-rejected-steve-ballmer-and-kicked-microsoft-out-of-the-city/:
Munich says the move to open source has saved it more than €10m, a claim contested by Microsoft, yet Hofmann says the point of making the switch was never about money, but about freedom.
You wonder how Microsoft and HP would know better than Munich how much money Munich was spending...
The time taken to complete the project is one of many reasons that Microsoft has attacked Munich's move to LiMux. A report criticising the project, produced by HP for Microsoft, claimed the Redmond software giant could migrate 50 to 500 desktop PCs per day if upgrading to a Microsoft OS and office, suite compared to the eight per day it said was being achieved under the LiMux project.
However, by Hofmann's reckoning, that slow and steady migration is one of the reasons the project has largely managed to stay within its budget with minimal disruption. The project finished within budget in October 2013, with more than 14,800 staff migrated to using Limux and more than 15,000 to OpenOffice.
How many IT projects have you heard being described as “finished within budget”?
How many IT projects have you heard being described as “finished within budget”?
Probably none of that scale. :-)
Just look at Auckland... http://www.zdnet.com/article/supercity-it-spending-revealed-sap-the-big-winn...
Cheers, Peter
On Thu, 10 Nov 2016 13:32:16 +1300, Peter Reutemann wrote:
How many IT projects have you heard being described as “finished within budget”?
Probably none of that scale. :-)
Just look at Auckland... http://www.zdnet.com/article/supercity-it-spending-revealed-sap-the-big-winn...
Interesting that the city of Munich is just a little bigger--1.5 million people.
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Peter Reutemann